Chapter 82 – Renjiro vs. Orochimaru

Whoosh! Crackle!

Renjiro shot into the air again and came crashing down like a falling star.

BOOM!

The ground exploded, leaving behind a huge crater as if a comet had struck.

This was a fusion technique—mixing Tekkai with Geppo (Moon Step), and boosting it with lightning chakra to push his body beyond its limits.

With his old body, the move would’ve torn him apart. But now, with his tenfold-enhanced physique, Renjiro could handle the crushing strain.

This time, Orochimaru wasn’t fast enough to escape. At the crater’s edge, he clawed his way out of the rubble, coughing blood.

“Cough… cough… incredible. This Taijutsu… it surpasses even Tsunade’s monstrous strength!” Orochimaru’s snake-like eyes gleamed with twisted excitement.

“What’s even more impressive.” He continued with a crazy smile: “Is that you’ve merged Taijutsu and Ninjutsu perfectly. Only Kumogakure has achieved anything close. But now…”

He licked his lips, staring at Renjiro with hunger: “Now there’s another—you. My interest in you grows stronger by the second!”

A dangerous excitement burned in Orochimaru’s eyes. For someone like him, the stronger the prize, the stronger the obsession.

The more Renjiro displayed his power, the more Orochimaru craved his body for experiments.

“Renjiro-kun… you’re even more perfect than Kimimaro to become my vessel!” Orochimaru whispered, his hands already flashing through hand seals.

“Summoning Jutsu!”

Puff!

A huge cloud of smoke exploded across the battlefield.

When it cleared, the enormous serpent Manda towered over them, his scales were glinting in the light.

“Orochimaru…” Manda’s deep, rumbling voice carried irritation: “You summon me again—for such a meaningless fight?”

Orochimaru ignored him, but the serpent’s cold eyes shifted to Renjiro: “This boy? You brought me here for him? How disappointing.”

“Capture him alive.” Orochimaru ordered coldly, unfazed by Manda’s words: “Do this, and I’ll give you a hundred living sacrifices.”

“…Hmph. That’s more like it.” Manda’s lips curled into a wicked grin.

Standing proudly atop the serpent’s massive head, Orochimaru looked down at Renjiro, his expression filled with cruel anticipation: “Renjiro-kun… tonight, you’ll become one of my test subjects.”

Whoosh!

At Orochimaru’s command, Manda lunged. For such a giant beast, his speed was terrifying, his colossal jaws came crashing down toward Renjiro in an instant.

But Renjiro didn’t retreat. He didn’t even blink.

“Size means nothing, Orochimaru. Arrogance always leads to downfall. And you… are walking right into it.”

Orochimaru smirked coldly: “We’ll see about that.”

BOOM! CRRRKK!

Manda’s massive jaws slammed down, only to be stopped by a sudden eruption of blinding blue energy that burst skyward, forcing the serpent’s mouth wide open.

The energy roared higher and higher, growing into a violent storm of violet-blue lightning—so massive it nearly matched Manda himself.

“What… what is this?!” Orochimaru’s eyes went wide. Even Manda recoiled, his massive body twisting in shock.

From within the storm, Renjiro’s voice cut through, cold and unwavering: “Consider yourself honored, Orochimaru. You’re the first to witness this technique.”

His eyes gleamed with deadly resolve.

Secret Art—Raioh! (Thunder King)

Crrrkk! Crrrkk!

The roaring pillar of lightning twisted and solidified, shaping into a colossal figure of pure energy. Over ten meters tall, half-formed yet overwhelming, it loomed like a spectral titan—its frame was glowing with skeletal arcs of thunder.

In its hand, lightning condensed into a massive blade, eerily resembling Renjiro’s own sword, Thunder Fang.

Whoosh!

The towering giant swung and drove the blade straight through Manda’s upper jaw.

“ROAAAR!”

The serpent shrieked, thrashing violently, the ground trembling beneath his enormous body.

“Damn you! You dare wound me like this!” Manda bellowed, his voice shaking the battlefield. Yet behind his fury, fear flickered in his cold eyes.

He was strong, but he was no fool. This was no prey worth dying for.

“Forget it!” He spat arrogantly: “With my jaw pierced, I can’t even devour you. You’re lucky this time. Pray you never cross me again!”

Pufff!

With a thunderous hiss, Manda vanished in a puff of smoke, the summoning contract forcefully severed.

In an instant, the battlefield changed, Orochimaru’s greatest weapon was gone, while Renjiro still stood tall, the colossal Raioh looming protectively behind him like a thunder-born guardian.

The balance of power had flipped in the blink of an eye. Moments ago, Orochimaru had held the advantage. Now, that advantage was nothing but an illusion.

What he faced was no ordinary technique—it was the manifestation of the Mangekyō Sharingan’s ultimate power: Susanoo.

Renjiro had given it another name, reshaping its form into his own creation—Raioh, the Thunder King. Even his eyes had been altered to conceal their true nature.

But Orochimaru was no fool. Even if he didn’t know its name, his sharp gaze recognized the truth: “An absolute Jutsu… both offense and defense combined into one!”

His serpent-like pupils trembled with feverish hunger as he stared at Renjiro, now encased within Susanoo’s colossal, lightning-forged armor.

To Orochimaru, this was the kind of power every shinobi in the world dreamed of, an unbreakable defense and unstoppable offense combined into one.

“Renjiro… just how many secrets are you hiding?” He hissed, his voice was trembling between awe and greed.

But then his expression changed. His eyes narrowed sharply, locking on Renjiro’s gaze: “Wait… those eyes… what is this? Their form—it's changing! Could it be… a unique Kekkei Genkai?!”

To Orochimaru, Renjiro’s eyes no longer resembled the Uchiha’s Sharingan. They had become something entirely new.

“A Dojutsu… a bloodline limit that reshapes the eyes themselves—just like the Sharingan or the Byakugan!”

The realization struck him with a mix of shock and hunger.

“No wonder no record of it exists. A hidden bloodline… and its power rivals the greatest! Magnificent! Renjiro, you surpass every expectation. So young, so powerful, limitless in potential… you are perfect. Yes—”

His lips twisted into a feverish smile: “You are the vessel most worthy to become my next body!”

In that moment, Orochimaru’s greed solidified into resolve. He had decided—no matter the cost, Renjiro’s body would be his.

But he also understood the danger. Renjiro was not called the Lightning Flash of Konoha without reason. And now, with a newly awakened, never-before-seen ocular bloodline, he was more untouchable than ever.

There was only one path left. Orochimaru’s mind sharpened like a blade: “If I want this body… I’ll have to use that technique.”

Renjiro’s heightened senses picked up on the sudden, sinister swell of Orochimaru’s chakra. His eyes narrowed. “So… you’re ready to gamble everything? Good. Show me what you’ve been hiding in your sleeves.”

He made no move to interrupt, watching calmly as Orochimaru unleashed his final trump card.

“Forbidden Jutsu—Eight-Headed Serpent!”

Whoosh! BOOM!

Orochimaru’s body convulsed and expanded, erupting into a monstrous form. Drawing on the “power of reincarnation” that flowed through the White Snake, his body transformed into a colossal, pale serpent—eight heads and eight tails writhing like a nightmare given flesh.

From Orochimaru’s body burst a monstrous shape—an eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent that loomed over the battlefield like a living calamity.

“ROAAR!”

The Eight-Headed Serpent bellowed, its cry shook the earth as it surged toward Renjiro with crushing force.

Renjiro only sneered: “Do you really think this Jutsu can stop me? Orochimaru… let me show you how vast the world truly is!”

Crrrkk! Crrrkk!

At once, his Susanoo shifted, morphing into its evolved form—Tengu-armored, clad in the spectral armor of a towering demon guardian.

BOOM! BOOM!

The titans collided. The ground split, mountains quaked, and even the air seemed ready to shatter from the impact of their clash.

Orochimaru struck first, one of the enormous serpent heads snapping down at Renjiro with terrifying speed.

Renjiro’s eyes blazed with excitement: “Come on!”

Whoosh! Crrrkk!

With a single swing of Susanoo’s colossal blade, he cleaved through the serpent’s skull. The severed head crashed into the earth with a thunderous boom.

Bang!

But the Eight-Headed Serpent still had seven more heads. They rose at once, striking from every direction and surrounding Renjiro in a storm of fangs and fury.

Renjiro only smiled coldly: “You think numbers will save you?”

BOOM!

Instead of attacking, Susanoo drove its massive sword deep into the ground. Renjiro’s right eye gleamed with power.

“This technique carries the true might of my ocular ability… Witness it—Secret Art: Raioh—Divine Armament!”

Crrrkk! Crrrkk!

The colossal sword split apart, shattering into six separate weapons—swords, spears, axes—all glowing with lightning, each one hovering in the air around Susanoo.

Bound by the magnetic force of Renjiro’s right eye, they moved as if alive, awaiting his command.

“Go!”

At his single word, the six spectral weapons shot forward like thunderbolts. In an instant, they pierced through six of the lunging serpent heads, skewering them mid-attack.

Boom! Boom! Crrrkk!

One after another, the massive serpent heads crashed lifelessly to the ground. The earth shook with every impact, until at last the Eight-Headed Serpent, once a symbol of Orochimaru’s might was reduced to a broken husk, with only a single head still writhing.

From the gaping maw of that final head, Orochimaru emerged. His pale face was twisted with both madness and awe, his golden eyes were burning feverishly.

“Perfect… utterly perfect! Your bloodline limit is flawless, Renjiro. Only such a body—only you—are worthy of becoming mine!”

Renjiro’s lip curled in disdain: “Your obsession with immortality… it’s truly pathetic.”

Whoosh!

Above him, the six spectral weapons spun once more, lightning crackling as they locked onto Orochimaru. Then, with a deafening whoosh, they streaked toward him like divine judgment.

Yet even cornered, Orochimaru did not falter. His twisted grin widened. No matter how desperate the situation, his tenacity was monstrous.

The last serpent head thrashed wildly, its body twisted in unnatural convulsions.

From its flesh erupted countless smaller snake heads, each one gripping a Grasscutter Blade in its jaws. Together, they surged forward, intercepting the six Divine Armaments in a clash of steel and lightning.

BOOM!

The battlefield shook as sparks and thunder filled the air.

Renjiro’s brow tightened: “Tch… truly disgusting.”

It wasn’t Orochimaru’s strength that unsettled him—it was his grotesque, twisted methods, the way he turned every technique into something foul.

Renjiro’s eyes hardened, his voice like steel: “Enough. This battle ends now.”